Rotary engine.



W. W. THOMPSON.

amm mma. 1,058,496. APPLIOATIOI FILED AUG.13,1912. Patented Apr. 8 8 SHEETS-BREST l.

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W. W. THOMPSON.

ROTARY ENGINE 1 AYPLIOATIOI TILBD AUG.13. 1912. Patented Apr. 8 8 SHEETS-BREETZ l Il" #0l-DINA FLAMNIIAFIC ID WAINIMYDN. hv l.

Patented Apr. 8, 1913.

BOTABY BNGXNE. LPrLwA'nox rILnn Amma. ma.

W. W. THOMPSON.

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' ROTARY ENGINE.

Bpooiaoation o! Letten htent.

Patented Api'. 8, 1013.

Appiiesaon site segun is, ma. sumiso. 714,914.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I WINifinLn W. T1-1 0Mrsox, a citizen of the 2United States, residing at Scebert, in the county of Pocahontas, State of West Vir inia, have invented certain new and use ul Improvements in Rotnrv Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledl in the art to which 1t ap,- pertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in rotary engines. l

The principal object of the invention is te provide a rotor of'novel construction for supporting'a plurality of slidable pistons.

A further 'obfect of the invention is to:

provide a shell or engines of the character described which includes of novel construction whic with the rotor to prevent the passage of steam during the rotation of the latter.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a rotary engine of the character described, which is com osed of a relatively few number of parts. is therefore simple in construction, and is cheap .to manufacture.

acking elements are engageable With these and other objects in v'iew, thel invention consists in the construction and' novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in .the accompanying drawings and elated out in the claims hereto ap ende( it bein understood that.

il i

various c anges. in the rm, proportion,

size and minor details-oi!l construction with-y in the sco c of the claims may b e'resorted t o without eparting from the spirit or sacriicing any of the advantages of the inven-l tion.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation nf an engine constructed in accordance with my invention, the outer section of the motor being` removed to better disclose t-hc piston-carrying section, Fig. 2 is an elevation of the inner face of the outer section, Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view through the engine. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal'sectional view through the engine,Fig. 5 is asidey elevation of the shell, Fig. 6 is across .sectionalvicw threthrough, Figwi', is a detail cross sectional vlewtaken on the line 7 7I of Fig. 5 showing the spring actuated U-A y shaped packing element, and Fig. 8 is a detail view showings. spring packing for one of the pistons.

Like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the invention comprises a, cylindrical body er shell A which is supported upon a base 5. -This body includes opposed abutments 6 6, and lbetween the abutments are disposed wear Aplates 7 7. The abutments 6 and wear )lates 7 are of uniform widths, and are of ess width than the width' of the shell A .to form lopposed bearing surfaces 8 8. Each abutment 6 has its bearing surfaces 8' and wear face D'centrally formed with a continuous slot 10 for receiving a U-sliapcd packing clement 11. Disposed behind the connecting portion 11l of each element is a lfiat spring 12 which tends to normally urfre said element inwardly. One end of one e ement 11 terminates in an outwardly directed stop lug ladapted for a purpose hereinafter described. Formed in the shell A on opposite sides of each packing element 11 and in spaced relation thereto are steam inlet and outlet ports 14 and 15' which resprcctively communicate with grooves 16 and 1 formed in the wear faces i) of said abutments. Secured to the side faces of the shell A are opposed heads 18-18, and these heads are formed with concentric openings 10 forming bearings for receiving a shaft 20. Extending inwardly from one head .18 is a, bearing 21 which is concentric with the opening 19 but of greater diameter than said opening. The outer'end of the bearing 21 is enlarged to form a bearing 22.

My invention further-comprises a rotor, which is designated as a whole by the reference letter B, and this rotor includes inner and outer sections 28 and 24- respectively. The inner section 23 consists of a fiat ring 25 which is rotatably mounted upon thc bearing 22 of the hub 21, and is disposed between the adjacent head 18and the adjacent bearing surface 8 of the shell A. The inner face of the ring 25 is formed with a series of spaced radial grooves 20 which ex- .tend entirely across said ring. llxtending titi oel

lateral flange 27 which is forinedwith a se-l ries of spaced slots 28 that register with the grooves 26, each groove'2- and slot 28- con iointly receiving a lslidable piston 29, the len th of each piston being less than the wit th of the ring 25. The outer section 24 oi the rotorIl comprises a disk 8O which is of the saine diameter as the rin 25. This disk is positioned between the ot ier head 18 of the o posits bearingsurface 8 of the shell A. xlsxtending inwardly `from the disk is a hub B1 which is fixed u on the shaft 20 by any suitable means. Tiis hub is r0- tatably mounted in the bearing 21 and is formed on its periphery with an oil oove 32. The inner face of the disk 8O is ormed with a series of smced radial grooves 88 which iegister witli the grooves 20 of the ring 25 and serve to receive the inner edges of the pistons 29. Extending inwardl from the disk 8O is n lateral flange 84 wilch is concentric with the hub 81, and is formed with a plurality of slots 85 which resplectvely re 'ster with the grooves 88. he interior iameter of the dan e 34 is slightly greater than the exterior iameter of the flange 27 of the ring 25, and the flan E 34 is disposed aroun said flange 27, t el slots 25 and 28 being disposed in re istration to receive t e piston 29. .isposed around the periphery of the ring, 25 is a split packing ring 36, and dis-i posed around t e periphery -of the disk l is a split packing ring 85', the ends of the latter being disposed on op osite sidesof: the stop lug 18 of the U-s aped packing,r eieinentl 80 said lug serving to prevent the, rotation of said packing ring. The inner: and 'outer sections 23 and 24 of the rotorl B are secured to ether by meansof'serews 38 which pass t rough suitable o nings'I formed iii the disk 80 and enter tireadedI olpenings formed in the lateral flange 27 of tie ring 25. The outer face of'the flange 27 adjacent each slot 28 is formed with a transverse recess 89 forming a, shoulder 40 which is disposed in saeed parallel relation to the piston 2t). isposed in each recess 3i) is a packing' plate 41, which is formed on its ed e'fopposite the t1piston 2ily with a dove-talle recess 42. A at bowed spring 48 is Adisposed within the dove-tailed recess 42 and benrs'agalnst the shoulder 40 to yieldably hold the plate 41 against the iision 29.

Keyed upon the hub 21 and disposed within the lateral flange 27 of the ring 25 is an elon ated cam which is fixed to said bearin y anyl suitable means. The o posite en s of t e cam are each forme with spliced ion itudlnal grooves 44-44. `Orea- .ient shape wear plates 45-45 are ,res eetively d sposed w thin tlie grooves. ao'n wear plate is formed vadjacent: its ends with transverse' slots 46. Pins 47-47 extend' through eachv end of the cam and through the respective slot 46 of the plates 45, and thereby permit of said lates moving outwardly for a limited istance. The oposed faces formed by each groove 44 are ormedwith opposed seats iB-48 for roceivin a coil spring 4t) which is disposed in rear o 4the res ective plato 45 for yieldably urging said p ate outwardly. It will thus be observed that the wear plates 45 are yieldably pressed outwardly for slidino engagement with the' inner face of the flbange 27 of the ring 25.

In operation, steam is admitted through either one-or botii of the inlet ports 14, and

,this steam will operate against the pistons 29, and thereby actiiate the rotor B. As the rotor thus travels, the steam will be carried around between the respective pistons 2S) and discharged through either one or both of the outlet ports 15 as the ease may be. By employing two inlet and outlet ports, more or less pressure can be ein loyed, or the engine can be reversed as will e readily understood byl those skilled in the art. By positioning t e wear plates 7 between the abutments 6, the end thrust of the istoiis 29 at these points will be prevente from wearin the metal too fast. These wear plates eing removable, can be readily replaced whenever so desired.

What is claimed is:

1. In a rotary engine a shell including opposed abutments, each abutment inclu ing opposed bearing surfaces and a wear face and having a centrally disposed continuous slot formed in said surfaces and face, and a U-sliaped packing element mounted in each slot, the end of one element terminating in -an outwardly directed stop element.

2. In a rotary engine, a shell including oplosed abutments, a rotor including inner an outer sections mounted in the sllell between tlie abutments, said sections being respectively formed with inner and outer inwardly extending concentric flanges, the flanges being respectively formed with a series of spaced radially extending registering slots, a hub projecting inwardly from tlie outer section, a cam fixed on the hub, sprin pressed wear plates secured to the end o the cani and adapted to engage the outer llange,and pistonsrespeetivoiy mounted in the registering slots of the flanges and engaging the abutincnts and the cam.

B. In a rotary engine, a shell includinfr opposed abutments, each abutment inclu( ing opposed bearing surfaces and a wear face and having a centrally disposed continuous slot. formed in said surfaces and face, a U-sliapod packing element mounted in each slot, the end of one eleiiiont terminating in an outwardly directed stop element, a rotor including inner and outer sections llo iria" mounted in the shell between the abutments, packingelement, and opposed heads seclired 10 one of said sections including an inwardly to the shell exteriorly of the sections.

extending hub, a cam fixed on the hub, s In testimony whereof, I aix my signapiuraiy of radially disposed pistons (lidture, in presence of two Witnesses.

@bijz sup cried b Y the sections interme a-te T if f the'- abuiznnents arid the cam, packing rings XNHFIELD n' FHOMPSON" 'disposed around` the sections, oneof said -Witnesses:

rings, being split and having its ends dis- D. J. DILLINGHAM,

posed onkopposte sides of the st'op 'of the HOMER G. BOBLETT. 

